Regrow Together
by Ooobserver
Summary: An unfortunate uprising has been brewed in the Fire Kingdom, one that only Finn has been alerted to. While the hero may be well equipped to aid the land's new ruler in quelling a couple of rebellious evildoers, he may not suspect that his new sword still has a few kinks to work out. One-Shot.


The mystic winds of the grasslands were blowing a harmonious whistling throughout their borders, creating a peaceful atmosphere of serenity. As each individual blade of green danced to the passing gusts, they formed a synchronized routine that was visible to any who might be flying overhead. The waves of vegetation reflected the sun's light as they were blown into the left and right, unleashing glittering spirals, waves, and other curvy patterns among the plain.

Dead center of the enchanting surroundings, the human known as Finn sat cross-legged, eyes closed, breathing steadily. With him was nothing more than his trusty backpack, which carried any item he may need across his various adventures, and a mysterious band of grass that was bound onto his right forearm. Finn's palms were resting gently on his knees, as he continued to meditate and listen to the whispers carried on the wind.

Suddenly, there was a disturbance. The young hero could feel it before he could hear it, sensing the slight variation in the air's movement that signaled a distant displacement of normal flow. His ocean blue eyes instantly flung open, allowing his dark pupils to stare directly ahead and concentrate on putting direction to the source of the unknown change.

It was then that the actual sounds reached his covered ears, kneading their way past the fabric of his bear hat and filling his mind with the received messages which the gusts had delivered.

There were screams, thundering, crackling, a fair bit of shouting. Finn slowly rotated his neck to zero in on the true origin of this collection of woeful noises. His eyes narrowed slightly, eyeing a distant assembly of smoky wisps that were being emitted from a dark mountain range.

_The Fire Kingdom. What's happening over there?_

With one quick motion, Finn was on his feet and gazing whimsically in the direction of the blazing landscape that was the kingdom of flames. Under previous circumstances, he would've assumed that the sounds were normal, simply being a mass assortment of evil-doing that the fire elementals were performing.

However, seeing as the land was now under the watchful eye of a truth-seeking monarch, it was a strange combination of commotion to be emanating from the volcanic region. Concerned that there was an issue worth investigating, the valiant human made haste and dashed swiftly towards the far off mountains.

Even nature was on his side today, as the winds suddenly shifted their flight, now pushing at Finn's back and further increasing his breakneck speed. He briefly formed a small smile, knowing that the reason he could sprint at such a level was chiefly due to the lack of weight he usually carried, i.e. a _metal _sword.

While the gusts helped the human along his journey across the grasslands, Finn stayed ever vigilant of the sounds still soaking into his eardrums. The screams had subsided, but the shouting had increased, as had the thundering and crackling. The hero's expression deepened into a frown as he pondered the current state of the fiery kingdom.

Regardless of the significant distance, Finn's arrival time to the blackened peaks was cut in half by the combined efforts of his own agility and the guiding winds. He mentally thanked the forces of nature for contributing to his righteous agenda and proceeded to run to the crevice which marked the entrance to the Fire Kingdom.

Unfortunately, the rate at which the temperature was rising forced him to stop, catching his breath as sweat began running down his arms, legs, and face. After wiping away the salty beads discomforting his skin, Finn thought hard as to what his next step would be. Flambo was obviously out of the question, since he had no idea where the little guy was.

A moment later, the hero's face brightened. He reached behind into his pack and pulled out one of the staple items always contained within: a roll of tinfoil. As a large amount of crinkling noise filled the air, Finn wrapped his feet in as many layers of the aluminum sheeting as possible, making sure to use up the whole supply. He couldn't be too careful around potentially boiling-point surfaces.

Upon finishing his protective armament, Finn appeared to be wearing some form of snow boots, seeing as his shoes were encased in an almost inch-thick coat of foil. He stomped the material a few times to compact it then took an experimental step forward. The heat was of course still present, but he felt that he could safety make his way deeper into the harsh environment.

Feeling brave, Finn broke into a run, intent on discovering the epicenter of the chaotic sounds continuously floating through the air. The shouts had disappeared by now, containing only the thundering and crackling. The hero easily discerned these as the tell-tale signs of destruction and fire, meaning only one thing; a fight of some sort had broken out.

Crossing around one final pass, Finn's eyes were set upon a frightening sight. Down below, across a wide gorge from the cliff he was currently standing on, the fire palace was in smoke; and not the normal amount either. In addition, a clearly visible hole was blasted in the side of the building, from which the noxious fumes were escaping.

More thundering was heard, painting its source to be inside the breached castle. Injecting his mind with determination, Finn quickly sprinted at the cliff and jumped off, flying a good ten feet before finally being snatched by gravity. He landed on a teetering slab of rock floating in the lava, taking but a second to balance before hopping to the next one over. By this method of leapfrog, the human made it to the main landing in a matter of minutes, making his way to the palace's front gates.

Two flame guards were lying defeated against the walls of the entrance, groaning and barely conscious. Finn ran up to one and bent his knees to get eye level with one of them.

"Hey, dude, you still good?"

The fiery being shook his head and reacted to the question, setting his red eyes upon the human.

"Finn, right?" the struggling guard asked.

The hero nodded.

"Yep, that's me. What the nuts is going on around here?"

The elemental used his hand to hold up his head, letting out another groan.

"We're having some 'issues' with some guys who'd rather stay evil."

Finn's expression immediately grew more concerned.

"Oh man, can't have that. Is Flame Princess taking care of them?"

He would assume since the girl was more or less the most powerful fire elemental around, she would be the one wanting to personally banish the remaining evil from her reforming kingdom. The guard looked a bit nervous upon answering.

"Well, sort of."

The hero furrowed his brow.

"What do you mean?"

The guard pointed over to his counterpart, who, now that Finn had a better look, was in pretty bad shape. His flames were outright doused, giving him a maroon shade that was familiar to Finn.

"Oh jeez. What did that to him?"

The fallen elemental was fighting to stay conscious.

"They brought ice."

At those words, the human's heart skipped a beat. In addition, the guard finally passed out, too exhausted to continue talking. Finn would've liked to give him an honorable pat on the shoulder for his efforts, but his hands were currently vulnerable to being scorched if contact was made. He settled for a nod and made his way through the palace gates, which had been torn off their framing.

Inside, the sounds of battle were stronger than ever, augmented further by the view of the actual battlefield. Not only were their clouds of smoke, piles of rubble, and blazing fires, but a multitude of steam trails wafted in the air. Finn's nerves twitched as he heard a sharp hissing sound seconds later. This was followed by a crash and a blast of flames.

Moving forward, Finn dashed for a different corner of the area, intent on finding the combatants who were obviously ricocheting across the throne room while trying to eliminate the other. As he carefully slid into a tucked away wall, Finn was momentarily blinded by a stinging in his eyes. Rubbing them out, he realized his sweating had grown to an extreme. The salty secretion was soaking his skin, making it difficult to focus on the trouble at hand.

Out of the insane amount of noise, Finn suddenly detected a slight whimpering nearby. Scouting out his immediate surroundings, the hero noticed a speck of fire nearby. Upon closer examination, it was revealed to be a flambit.

"Flambo!"

The cat-like elemental heard the human's shout, instantly darting his eyes around to find the source of the call. He targeted Finn's form and quickly sprinted on all fours over to the boy.

"Finn! What the heck are yous doing here!? You'll get fried!"

The human gave the flambit a serious look.

"I want to help."

Flambo was initially shocked, but gradually calmed as he witnessed the determined face of his larger companion. He sighed.

"Alright. But be careful. These guys are nasty. They've been tearing the place up for almost an hour now."

As the little flame being began casting a flame shield on Finn, the hero began to analyze the room. Visibility was still vastly limited, due to the constant smoke and steam. Hisses were shot out every few seconds, worrying Finn immensely. As he suddenly felt the temperature decrease dramatically, he looked down to see his blue hued skin.

"Thanks, Flambo."

Finn held out his arm and opened up his hand. Instantly, the grassy band around his wrist shifted, slithering into his palm before finally forming the hero's incredible grass sword. With one swing of enchanted might, he sliced off the clumsy tinfoil boots he had made earlier. Flambo whistled.

"Nice piece yous got there."

Finn was too concerned about the situation to thank the little guy, proceeding instead to charge right into the center of the room, hoping to run into, well, someone. The result of his sprint brought him right next to the throne, which was heavily damaged. Finn narrowed his eyes as he waited for something to appear out of the smoke and steam. He heard a grunt, male, and turned towards its source.

A split second later, a massive cube of ice was flung across the human's field of view, heading to the opposite end of the room. It impacted on a wall, evidenced by the sound, and immediately hissed while evaporating. Finn turned towards the direction from which the cube had flown and raised his sword with both hands.

"You're not getting away with this!"

After another blast of flames was heard, a feminine voice broke through the smokescreen.

"Finn?!"

The human recognized it instantly, but was shocked when he suddenly heard an object flying through the air and striking something that was definitely _not _a wall.

"AH!"

Hissing filled the air, followed by a smack as something non-rock composed hit the floor. Finn ran towards the last known area he heard the voice and desperately scanned the floor around him. His eyes froze when they landed on the barely moving form of a person he knew all too well.

"Flame Princess!"

Finn made his way over to the fiery girl and kneeled down to help her sit up. She groaned, holding a hand to her side as if in pain. Her expression was one of both exhaustion and anger. Eventually, she opened her scrunched up eyes and placed them on Finn's.

"Finn, what are you doing here?"

The hero frowned.

"What else? Trying to help you out."

The king scoffed.

"Well, all you accomplished so far is getting me hit with a block of ice, so try harder."

Finn was rather guilt filled for having caused her pain; it was not something he ever wanted to do again.

"Yeah, ok. So how do we beat these jerks?"

FP looked around at the surrounding mix of smoke and steam.

"Ugh! Those butts are ruining my palace! They'll pay!"

Her flames heightened as she balled her fists. Finn gently placed a hand on hers, attempting to calm her. She swung her head to stare the boy down.

"What!"

Finn held his serious expression.

"Then let's not fight them here. Let's bring them to an easier turf."

FP raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

The human pointed up.

"They're after you, right? So if you leave the Fire Kingdom, they'll hunt you down, since you could just come back at any time."

Flame Princess nodded, understanding his idea.

"Ok. So where do we lead them?"

Finn scrunched up his face as he thought as hard as he could.

"Hmmm…Oh! Let's lure 'em to the forest! I have an idea."

FP was completely lost as to what the boy could be thinking, bringing _fire _elementals to a _flammable _environment, but knew from experience that Finn had a thing for using his surroundings against his opponents.

"Ok. Let's do it."

The human nodded and held out his right hand, retracting his sword back around his wrist. The flame king eyed it with astonishment.

"What the junk is that?"

Finn looked to the grassy knot bonded to his arm and grinned.

"Oh, it's just my awesome new sword."

Flame Princess curiously gazed at the object for a moment, but was interrupted as another crash echoed through the room and caused a significant portion of the ceiling to fall to the floor nearby.

"Come on out, your highness. We just want you to 'chill out'! Hahaha!"

Finn outright grabbed FP's hand and shot her an anxious look.

"Go!"

After shaking off a slight shock at the hero's action, the princess nodded and looked up, eyeing the hole in her palace. With one swift motion, she fired herself and Finn towards the opening, hoping to escape any further lobs of ice.

"She's getting away! After her!"

As Finn looked back from the now shrinking castle, two trails of flames burst out of the same exit he and FP had just used. The twin streaks were quickly gaining on them, seeing as the fiery girl had to carry extra weight.

"FP, can you fly faster?"

The fire elemental glared, but was unable to send it his way.

"Not unless you want to lose your grip."

Finn frowned, but then instantly brightened and looked to his grass weapon. He quickly had it extend its wrapping to encompass Flame Princess's wrist as well. She reacted with fright to the contact.

"It's alright, FP, it won't hurt you. I promise"

The hero gazed truthfully into the fiery ruler's eyes, smiling humbly the whole time. After a few seconds of staring back, Flame Princes nodded.

"Ok. Hang on."

Finn did so and was caught off guard as his body suddenly zoomed away at a speed that forced the air to violently smack into his face. Fortunately, it also prevented the duo of villainous elementals behind them from getting too close. As the three airborne beings flew across the skies of Ooo, Finn directed FP to the verdant woods in the distance.

Once they had reached the canopies of the lush forest, the human had FP set them down beneath the cover of the trees. They had a good amount of time to think up a game plan before the two jerks arrived.

"Ok, so what are we doing here?"

Flame Princess's question had been floating in her head ever since Finn had declared their destination. The young hero briefly examined the surroundings, spotting a small pond nearby, making him smile. He turned back to FP.

"We've got to get those butts to burn down the place."

The fire elemental was stunned.

"Excuse me, could you repeat that? I think you had something crazy in your mouth."

Finn chuckled at the girl's reaction.

"Haha, nope. That's what I meant. Burn the area to the ground."

Upon finishing his laughter, Finn noticed his companion wasn't looking too enthusiastic. He frowned a little and looked softly into the girl's eyes.

"FP, I know it sounds stupid, and it probably is, but, I…I need you to _trust _me on this."

At this, the king's expression grew even more uncertain.

"I-I don't know."

Finn tried to come up with some positive reinforcement, but only managed to strengthen the grip of his hand.

"Please, FP. If we fail here, then you never have to listen to me again."

Surprisingly, Flame Princess gazed back at Finn with a careful look, before eventually shifting to one containing the hint of a smile and finally a nod.

"Ok. I'll trust you."

Finn grinned with appreciation as FP suddenly blushed.

"But, um…can you let go of my hand?"

The human's current train of thought derailed, as he looked down to his right arm and found that the two's appendages were still in the bind of the grass sword.

_Oh, so that's why squeezing my hand helped._

Finn held up both their connected wrists and grinned at the green wrappings.

"Ok. Time to get to work. Let's get the sword back."

Nothing happened.

"Hey, come on."

He tugged his arm a bit, but only managed to take FP's arm with him.

"What's your deal, you dingus?"

Flame Princess furrowed her brow.

"Finn, what's going on?"

The hero repeatedly tried to command his weapon to let go.

"Uh, well. This thing is kinda new, and I haven't exactly had time to fully control it, so…"

The fire elemental scowled.

"Finn! You said-"

The human held up his hand.

"No, no, no! It's not hurting you! Is it?"

Flustered, but being truthful, FP shook her head.

"Ok, then I didn't lie; it's just having some glitches. We can work with it, right?"

Flame Princess groaned but followed it up with a defeated sigh.

"I guess so."

* * *

The twin fire jets crashed to the forest floor, igniting several treetops on fire as they went. Once recovering from the landing, the two stood up and began searching the surroundings.

"Where'd she go?"

"How should I know? Just keep looking!"

As they scouted around in search of the princess, one of them received a sudden blow to the head from a small rock.

"Ow! What the heck; who threw that!?"

The evil elemental swung around in the direction of the hit and immediately saw Finn waving from beside a bush.

"Hey there, loser!"

Enraged, the fiery man shot a stream of combustion at the boy, who was quickly pulled out of the way by a hidden Flame Princess. The two hand-bound teens somehow managed to move with enough coordination to stay swift and avoid any hits as they continued to play 'whack-a-mole' with the duo of vile fire beings.

Although feeling a bit embarrassed, FP thought it might be because of their previous relationship.

As more and more of the area was consumed by flames, it became increasingly difficult for the two rebels to find their target. Taking an opportune moment, the young pair charged through one of the raging infernos, Flame Princess brandishing her blue flame sword. One of the heretics blocked the strike with his own, as his ally went for the kill from behind.

Luckily, Finn punched this one in the face, the man having not realized that the two were joined by the hands. FP meanwhile, shoved back the first attacker and signaled for Finn to follow her. They ran for the edge of the flames, intent on concealing themselves for another assault.

By this time, the entire forest floor was covered in ashes.

Having had enough, the first rebel grinded his teeth and raise his arms to the combustive force around him.

"That's it!"

The fires instantly died out, having been cancelled out by his powers. Unfortunately, this revealed the locations of Finn and FP, who stood on the far side of the burned area with a look of shock upon their faces.

"Uh oh," Finn stated nervously.

The two heretics slowly closed in on the duo, igniting their fists and preparing to end the two's lives. The first one smirked viciously, now noticing the teens' connected hands.

"Aww, you want to die as a couple? How sweet. We'll gladly make that your last request, hahaha!"

Finn and Flame Princess glared at the two and braced themselves, waiting for a chance to escape.

Or were they…

Taking one more step, the pair of renegade elementals charged forward, ready to incinerate the youngsters. However, their dash was cut short as the ground beneath their feet suddenly gave way. As Finn and FP watched, the twins fell straight into the small pond the human had sighted earlier, completely concealed by the amount of ash floating on its surface.

A heavy hissing and screams filled the air as the evil ones panicked and began drowning in the waters, but quickly found that the pool was shallow enough not to submerge them completely. As they continued freaking out, Finn and FP looked over at each other and smiled, admiring the success of their plan.

* * *

"You know what? I blame you."

"Me!? It was your idea to take on the whole royal guard by ourselves!"

"Yeah, but you should've pointed out how bad of a plan that was.

As the two dunderheads were led away by a patrol of guards pointing their spears at their backsides, they argued like no tomorrow about who was responsible for the failure. Finn actually found it quite funny, and watched them until their escort disappeared over the horizon, heading back toward the Fire Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Finn looked over and saw FP staring at the destruction the brothers had caused to the forest. He noticed her saddened expression, and the somewhat strong grip she had on the hand still attached to his.

"Flame Princess, are you, ok?"

The fiery girl hung her head, looking down at the blizzard of ashes still etched into the ground.

"Is this all we can do? Burn down that which is alive and growing?"

She was of course referring to fire elementals as a whole, seeing as the two had just finished out-braining a pair of destructive evil butts. Finn himself increased the pressure his trapped fingers had on the ruler's hand and took a short step closer to her. His frown suddenly showed the chance at an idea to help the fiery princess.

"No, FP. It's not. Here, let me show you."

The boy began leading the way to a spot deeper into the blackened environment. The fact that they were still holding hands seemed to have been accepted by this point. As Finn stopped at a quite clear section of the ground, he kneeled down and motioned for Flame Princess to do the same. The hero took his free hand and pushed aside some of the ash, revealing a small acorn buried beneath the remains.

"If there's one thing I learned while sitting in the middle of the grasslands doing nothing but listening to wind, it's that nature is one big circle-type thing. See."

He used his fingers to dig a small hole in the ground, then gently dropped the acorn inside. He then took a small handful of the ash and sprinkled it in as well.

"Trees grow, get old, then have to die eventually. But, when nature has the chance to use fire, it's way better. All those flames burn old life down, making way for new like and even helping it get there."

FP looked over curiously at the boy.

"What do you mean?"

Finn rubbed some of the ash between his fingers.

"PB told me that ashes make for good growth material, since it's just the 'plant food' that the old trees never used."

He let the black powder fall in the hole, then warmly gestured for Flame princess to cover it up. She did so, and watched as Finn took out a water bottle from his backpack and poured some of the rejuvenating liquid on the newly planted seed.

"Don't you see, FP? Fire, water, it all helps in this life circle deal. It's all equally important and valuable. If you understand that, then you can understand that no matter how badly something is burned down, it will one day regrow stronger than ever."

Flame Princess processed the human's words as she stared into his hopeful eyes. Finally, she looked back down at the ground.

"Are you talking about the trees…or us?"

Finn's expression dropped to one of surprise. However, as he contemplated the girl's response, he found that part of his mind may have been acting on its own accord the whole time.

"I…Maybe."

The two resumed gazing into each other's eyes.

"I mean, not right now, obviously. I've been around, I know that a princess doesn't have time to be in a relationship while running her kingdom, my old crush on PB is kinda proof of that."

He squeezed Flame Princess's hand tighter.

"But…someday, I hope that there might be a chance, just being honest."

As a moment of silence engulfed the two teens, a quiet slithering crept through the emptiness. Looking down, Finn and FP were stunned to see the grass sword retracting itself back to only Finn's wrist. They raised their now free hands and studied them. Then, they both looked back to each other, once more with blank gazes.

"Me…me too."

Finn hid his astonishment and simply looked back to the spot where they'd planted the acorn. After another minute of quiet resting, the human let out a breath and stood up.

"Well, guess you'd better be getting back. I'd hate to be the reason you're being kept from your peeps."

Flame Princess smiled.

"It's no big deal. Besides, it's nice to get out of there every once in a while."

She also stood up and motioned to the path leading to the burning kingdom.

"Would you care to accompany me on the way back?"

The hero gave a small bow.

"It would be an honor, your highness."

FP giggled a bit and gestured for the boy to follow as she began strolling casually back to the Fire Kingdom. The two occasionally made conversation on their most recent activities, or simply joked and laughed about various things.

During the entire walk, they both resisted the desire to grasp the comforting feeling of the others' hand.

* * *

**_Don't get me wrong, the demon blood sword was awesome, but I'm really digging Finn's new blade._**

**_Hope_****_ you enjoyed and thanks for any comments/reviews!_**


End file.
